On this episode of TheSofa King Podcast, we look at the life, philosophy, crimes, and sexual perversion of the infamous Marquis de Sade. As a warning, don’t read this or watch the episode unless you are ready for some crazy sex acts. The term sadism (gaining pleasure from other people’s pain) came from this man, and his life and ideas were very interesting and controversial. Donatien Alphonse François, best known as the Marquis de Sade, was born in Paris, France on June 2, 1740. His father was a diplomat in the court of Louis XV (and a reported pedophile), and his mother was a lady-in-waiting. He had everything he ever wanted and was said to be a spoiled child.

He would hurt his servants and throw tantrums, and while he was six, he beat the Prince of France bloody and was sent away to live with his uncle who was an abbot at a church. However, the uncle was also a pervert who kept a male and female in residence of the church, just for his sexual pleasures.

From here, de Sade finally moved back to France where his family was struggling a bit financially. He married a wealthy woman to get his money back, and he started a reign of shocking sex acts. Prostitution, sodomy, and whipping were just the start. He once whipped a hooker until she bled and masturbated in the wounds. He forced prostitutes to eat medicines, so he might be able to catch their feces as part of a sexual act. He also masturbated a woman with a crucifix after putting communion wafers in her vagina. This last one crossed the line and started his life of prison terms.

He spent decades in and out of prison, and while locked up, he spent his sexual energies writing books of craven sexual acts and perversion that nobody has ever bested to this day. 120 Days of Sodom and was his most famous, so we spend a lot of time on the show discussing this one.

Eventually, he survived the French Revolution and ended up in an insane asylum where he had an affair with a 13 year old girl while he was 70.

So, with all this perversion, why is the Marquis de Sade considered one of the great French philosophers? How did he influence literature, surrealism, and even Sigmund Freud? When were his works finally published for reading? What does his surviving family think of the legacy he left their family name? Listen, laugh, learn.